ASIC issues $4.5 million fine against Openmarkets

Corporate watchdog ASIC scored its biggest penalty ever, with a $4.5 million fine against retail broker Openmarkets. ASIC says Openmarkets has a history of compliance failures, but this time, routine surveillance identified repeated suspicious trading by an Openmarkets' client. According to ASIC, Openmarkets did not have appropriate supervisory procedures to ensure compliance with requirements under the market integrity rules dealing with suspicious trading, and failed to prevent unprofessional conduct by senior staff.